Thanks to a reader for passing along this link:

Spider-Man got his start as a fly on the wall of Marvel’s Stan Lee

Brainstorming in the ’60s for a new superhero led to the superinsect concept — an idea that was rejected at first as ‘the worst idea’ ever at the company

BY ETHAN SACKS

Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2012

If this article is an example of the kind of “journalism” going on at a newspaper like the Daily News, no wonder newspapers are going out of business.

Thanks to Arlen Shumer for sending in this great link to an article on Jack’s wrok at Dial B for Blog: The Quest for the Historic Kirby

Kirby commission pencils dated 1967.

Thanks to a reader for sending in a link to another recent article on Saint Stan.

The Inquisition of Mr. Marvel
On the (surprisingly complicated) legacy of Stan Lee
By Alex Pappademas

Kirby is thrown into the mix a bit here, the interviewer does reflect a bit on Jack’s part in Marvel history, but ultimately the interviewer slams Jack’s fans, then when he gets to actually interview Lee, the interviewer chickens out and doesn’t even bring Jack up once in his lame “interview” with Lee. Whatever happened to the days when journalists came prepared with a list of questions designed to try and help readers learn something new?

I love Stan Lee’s quote about how he would have been “wealthy” if he had worried about ownership of the Marvel characters back in the 60s. Isn’t Lee worth over 10 million dollars? I guess that’s not “wealthy” in Stan Lee’s world?

The Hulk battles the Skrulls, dated 1978.

Great example of Jack painting with a pencil. Jack’s shading really contributes to the illusion of movement in this image, all the lines lead the eye from the bottom left-hand side of the page upwards to the top right-hand corner (except that little area under the spaceship) — this effect was usually lost when Jack’s inkers tended to fill in those areas with all-black.

Spectacular Kirby watercolor from 1976.

Thanks to a reader for passing along this great link:

Jack Kirby style warriors art

Here’s the famous Kirby cover that inspired the poster.

Thanks to Doug Pratt for sending in another Stan Lee interview. This one is from Circus Magazine, July 20, 1978. Click on the image to zoom in. Thanks again to Doug for sharing that with us.

Thanks to Kenn Thomas for this email and scan:

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Thanks to Mark Mayerson for identifying all the faces in that Not Brand Echh! image. Great job, Mark!